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I'm getting pretty tired of this meme. Chernobyl was horrific! It happened at a time and in place that did not care much about safety or human lives. The techn

I'm getting pretty tired of this meme. Chernobyl was horrific! It happened at a time and in place that did not care much about safety or human lives. The technology was primitive. Safety mechanisms had been turned off. The response to the accident was to send people on a suicide mission while telling everyone else everything was hunky dory. It was a a horrific disaster. How the hell could Fukushima be as bad? And what is the point of all of this anyway? Look, I think we should use a lot more nuclear power, yes despite the fact that I grew up down wind of Chernobyl and with Fukushima still happening, I STILL think we should all drive electric cars that get their electricity from nuclear power. But I want those nuclear plants to as safe as technology can make them. And I welcome higher per kilowatt prices to make this happen. What I don't want is nukes on the cheap, as this particular GE model of reactor appears to have been marketed. And I am really getting sick of the chorus of the last couple of days which I can summarize as: 1. Fukushima is totally under control you guys! 2. Fukushima is not going to melt down you guys! 3. Fukushima is not going to have a total melt down, OK! 4. Chernobyl didn't kill THAT many people. 5. Chernobyl wasn't that bad. 6. The area around Chernobyl is going to be peachy in like another 50 years! 7. Well at least Fukushima can't be as bad Chernobyl! For the love of God, if you want to promote nuclear power do it in a smart way! Explain just how bad and radioactive coal is. Explain all the ways in which modern nuclear can be made safer. And call for more oversight and investment in safety. But please stop trying to downplay Fukushima! Not only does this not help anything, but it actively discredits advocacy for nuclear power!

michaelchisari 16y ago
As long as people are comparing it to Chernobyl, we can't have a sane, realistic conversation about nuclear power.
- r00fus 16y ago
  Which is the whole point of the meme... destroy nuclear's credibility with FUD comparisons. Both anti-nuke environmentalist groups and fossil fuel mega-corps can get cozy with this campaign.
  - bioh42_2 16y ago
    The way to combat that campaign is not by defending an ancient reactor built on the cheap. It's not by defending the overly secrete save face first, save lives second approach by the authorities. Fukushima should not be played down. That is not the way to counter-act the FUD.
    - michaelchisari 16y ago
      Like I said before, we cannot have a sane, rational conversation about how terrible of a design the Mark I BWR is, or how necessary it is to decommission outdated reactors, until people know enough to stop making comparisons to Chernobyl.

michaelchisari 16y ago

As long as people are comparing it to Chernobyl, we can't have a sane, realistic conversation about nuclear power.

r00fus 16y ago
Which is the whole point of the meme... destroy nuclear's credibility with FUD comparisons. Both anti-nuke environmentalist groups and fossil fuel mega-corps can get cozy with this campaign.
- bioh42_2 16y ago
  The way to combat that campaign is not by defending an ancient reactor built on the cheap. It's not by defending the overly secrete save face first, save lives second approach by the authorities. Fukushima should not be played down. That is not the way to counter-act the FUD.
  - michaelchisari 16y ago
    Like I said before, we cannot have a sane, rational conversation about how terrible of a design the Mark I BWR is, or how necessary it is to decommission outdated reactors, until people know enough to stop making comparisons to Chernobyl.